Photo of the Day: Cartagena at Night

Day 2 of our trip will land us here. It looks like a Cuban-esque vibe

Pineapple Graf by District of Colombia on Flickr

Some grungy graffiti in Colombia

Jungle Bridge in Valle de Cocora by Diego Cupolo on Flickr

An Indiana Jones-esque bridge in the jungle of Cocora Valley – A trek we’ve already got locked into our itinerary!

Cockfighting by AldoBello on Flickr

I had such horrible luck on Proline this football/hockey/baseball season that I think I’m going to lay down some bets on cockfighting while in Colombia

Photo of the Day: Baby it’s Dark Out

Untitled Bogota by Gabriel Leano on Flickr

Photo of the Day: Dos Tequilas por favor

Santa Fe de Antioquia by District of Colombia on Flickr

Photo of the Day: Off the road ya’ Jackass!

Auto Show: 2012 model donkeys – available in 3 colours, fully loaded

Love the look of this shot: Arrierio by Dafero (Daniel Romero) on Flickr

Picture of the Day: Monserrate Bogota

The amazing view from Monserrate mountain overlooking Bogota.

Monserrate Bogota by Carlos Bolivar on Flickr

Twenty, Twenty, Twenty-Four Days to Go

…I wanna be sedated.

Well almost 3 years ago to the day I went on the first eye-opening trip of my life (no offence to Europe prior, but Bangkok ‘Ping-Pong Shows’ are pretty damn eye opening…and immediately thereafter eye closing).

I was over the moon to find out Duncan would be down for joining me on this years trip 3 years after our Southeast Asian adventure (after missing out on the South America trip). He had (for yet unknown reasons) jumped off the bus and stuck by my side when the Vietnamese border guards yanked me off our coach and threw me into that god-forsaken hospital quarantine in the middle of nowhere. He had also been the one to restrain me when we had a knife pulled on us in Bangkok and I was popping off at the guys without seeing the weapon. So yeah, I pretty much want this guy by my side when this Bath-Salt induced zombie apocalypse goes down.

Now that I’m a working man (…get your minds out of the gutter) I am only permitted 2 weeks vacation throughout the year – add in the fact I need 2 days in September to fly home to Vancouver for a wedding and, well I can’t be doing no more continent-wide expeditions. A 1-2 country trip was all that could be done in such a short timeframe.  So we mashed together our top-5’s and were ecstatic to have Colombia come out on top.

So why Colombia? Well here’s our top-5 reasons for going:

1. Guerrilla Kidnappings. Wait, that was put in the wrong context – we’re not wanting to get kidnapped by FARC. Over the past few years the government decimated there ranks, basically putting them out of commission. That means the one huge barrier to tourism is now out of the way, and this country can be explored prior to the tourist industry sinking it’s ugly teeth into it.
2. The terrain. Jungle – Check. Mountains – Check. Waterfalls – Check. Beaches – Check. We wanted to do some trekking, and Colombia has some pretty cool treks.
   

   Picture by Andres Felipe Gomez Ortega on Flickr

3. Cocaine. Okay see point one about context. Pablo Escobar was a polarizing figure – and still remains the face everybody thinks of when they hear ‘Drug Lord.’ I’ve heard many stories, read books and seen films on the man and can’t really grasp the true magnetite of his empire or his impact on the country. Needless to say Medellin, and Pablo Escobar’s old residences will be must-see’s on our trip.
4. Untouched Beaches. Well, we experienced packed beaches in Thailand, and I’ve seen the most famous beaches in the world in Brazil. I need a beach that’s untouched by the masses, and Colombia fits that bill.
   

   By Fred Fraces on Flickr

5. Girls. Colombia for better or worse (I’m going to say better, but if you catch me chatting up a hardcore feminist, I’ll be all over a ‘worse’ response) has one of the highest rates of plastic surgery usage throughout the world. I’ve seen Brazil, now it’s time to see if Colombia lives up to the hype.

I’m going to get this blog going to keep everybody up to date on prep for the trip, the trip itself, along with the follow-up.

Fresh Start – Change #1: Video Production

Well – I’ve been busy lately.  I just wrapped up my marketing coop work term and now am applying for marketing/advertising jobs, but I’ve decided to get more out of my spare time… What the heck as the saying goes: “I can sleep when I’m dead” – right?

So I’ve had to hit the reset button so to speak, and give myself a fresh start to coincide with the (inevitable) big change of a new job (whenever it occurs)… So here it is Change #1

I have to start practicing video production alongside my photography.

I cam across this amazing video of a trip to Vietnam (which btw – appears to have visited the exact same locations Duncan + I saw on our trip), and it makes me really want to improve my skills.

I really want to start bringing back material like this.  Sure, my sort of trips are infused with a huge serving of humour – as me and my travel mates always seem to come back with a ridiculously large amount of inside jokes/laugh-our-guts-out memories that can only be conveyed with video including speech.  But I think that’s the sort of thing thats gotta be kept special between the parties that were physically there.

There’s something to be said for this sort of travel video.  Having the visuals, with no vocals, and a nice background tune.  People are still captivated by the scenery – and it really is some quality work.  What do you think – good stuff? Or do people prefer corresponding vocals?

I love this sort of stuff and you very likely will see me + my  Canon T1i wandering the streets of Toronto as I start to gather video.